Monsoon sets foot in Kerala, soaking the state with heavy downpour

Thiruvananthapuram: The southwest monsoon sets in over Kerala on Friday, the Met office said.

Heavy rains have lashed most parts of the state since Thursday night.

“The southwest monsoon has set in over Kerala on June 5, as against the normal date of June 1,” an India Meteorological Department statement said.

“Conditions are favourable for the further advance of southwest monsoon into some more parts of central Arabian Sea, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, some parts of Rayalseema and coastal Andhra Pradesh, some parts of central and north Bay of Bengal and southern parts of northeastern states during the next 48 hours.” (IANS)

Franco Mulakkal, bishop of the Indian city of Jalandhar, center, whom a nun has accused of rape, leaves after appearing for questioning by police in Kochi, India, Sept. 19, 2018. The bishop has denied the accusation. VOA

Indian police on Friday arrested a Catholic bishop accused by a nun of repeatedly raping her over a period of two years.

The arrest of Franco Mulakkal came after police questioned him for three days in southern Indian city of Kochi.

The nun with the Missionaries of Jesus order filed a police complaint in June accusing the bishop of raping her from 2014 to 2016.

Nuns hold placards during a protest demanding justice after an alleged sexual assault of a nun by a bishop in Kochi, in the southern state of Kerala, India. VOA

Mulakkal is the bishop of the northern Indian city of Jalandhar. He denied the accusations, saying the nun was angry because he had ordered her disciplined.